Israel to Join OECD by End of 2010
Israel will be admitted to the OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, by the end of 2010, thanks to a deal finalized over the weekend between Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and OECD Secretary Genera Angel Gurria. At a meeting between the two in Paris, the two agreed to speed up Israel's acceptance into the organization, which is expected to improve Israel's standing in the credit market, as well as in the realms of agriculture, trade, and science.
The agreement will entail Israel's adjusting of several mechanisms in the economy to match the standards demanded by the OECD. The members of the OECD are considered the "first world" economies, and include the wealthy countries of Western Europe, the U.S., and South Korea. Russia, along with Israel, was invited for membership in 2007.
World Bank to Fund Dead Sea-Red Sea Canal Test Project
The World Bank has agreed to fund a pilot program of what could turn out to be one of the most ambitious water projects in the world – the Dead Sea Canal Project, which would see the construction of waterworks 112 miles in length, connecting the Red Sea and Dead Sea.
The project would help replenish the Dead Sea, which is in danger of major ecological damage, according to many scientists, as well as provide a new source of fresh water for the region, with large desalination plants treating water that would be provided for Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
The deal for the pilot project, which would see the construction of a pipeline between the two bodies of water, was closed Friday between Regional Development Minister Silvan Shalom and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. The pipeline, to be built by 2011, will function as a study to decide the feasibility of the project.
Besides helping to replenish the Dead Sea, the project could also ease energy costs for participants. The Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth, is 400 meters below the Red Sea, and the drop in altitude as the water flows could be used to generate hydroelectric power. The water would then be treated in a companion desalination plant, making it fit for agricultural or industrial use and easing the strain on fresh water resources in the region.
Eventually, the full project could see as much as 1.8 billion cubic meters of water pumped through the system. One billion cubic meters would be pumped into the Dead Sea, and the rest would be treated at a desalination plant, to be split between Israel, Jordan and the PA. The project has been much discussed for decades – it was first proposed by the British in the 1880s, according to historians.
According to the World Bank, the desalination plant attached to the project would be the biggest in the world, with a final bill of around $7 billion. The pilot project, which the World Bank has agreed to fund, will cost around $15 million. Shalom is working on developing funding for the full project, from both the World Bank and countries around the world. Speaking to reporters, Shalom said that the initial funding was "a dramatic, important move that can lead to a breakthrough. This project has been delayed for years. We see it as a staple for financial peace."
Comments:
Anonymous said:
Don't forget Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer's spat with Shari Arison over the Bank ha-Poalim exec. Dankner.
Fischer (IMF, Citibank, World Bank) was sent here by the Council on Foreign Relations to change Israel from a banana republic with 8 oligarchs to part of the fascist socialist world state.
Don't forget Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer's spat with Shari Arison over the Bank ha-Poalim exec. Dankner.
ReplyDeleteFischer (IMF, Citibank, World Bank) was sent here by the Council on Foreign Relations to change Israel from a banana republic with 8 oligarchs to part of the fascist socialist world state.
Dan, Jerusalem
Re: World Bank to Fund...Canal
ReplyDeleteEight years ago an Iraqi Christian engineer, Hammam Battah, proposed to establish a solar-generated desalination plant in the Mediterranean to provide a river of water eastward into the...Sinai or the Dead Sea. It would have been only 10-20 miles long, not 112. But the Likud government of the time shelved the project. Both Ministers Netanyahu and Sharansky ignored the offer.
This new invention would have required NO energy input beyond the ability to pump fresh water to the entirety of Israeli towns and cities as they are located quite near to the Mediterranean. And the entire desert could have been irrigated--cheaply. Not only would the Dead Sea have been saved, but cheap water and thermal power would have been available throughout the nation.
Why was this brilliant engineer never taken up on his offer? And why is the government now spending several billions for a more costly "test" project?